Load-carrying systems for safely and securely carrying equipment and supplies are frequently used by military, law enforcement, public safety, and security personnel. For example, a load-carrying system known as Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, more commonly referred to as the MOLLE system, is used by military personnel for carrying weapons, ammunition, communication equipment, first aid supplies, and other items. The MOLLE system includes an assortment of cases and holders which may be attached to nylon straps known as a Pouch Attachment Ladder System, also referred to as a PALS grid. A PALS grid may be affixed to a load-carrying structure such as a protective vest, jacket, helmet, backpack, or part of a vehicle. Selected holsters, holders, clips, hangers, cases, and carriers, referred to herein as accessory holders, may be attached to straps in a PALS grid or to a compatible duty belt or chest harness worn by a person. Public safety personnel may wear a similar load-carrying system, for example a duty belt or a protective vest to which accessory holders for equipment such as a sidearm, flashlight, radio, handcuffs, chemical deterrent, cellular telephone, keys, and so on, may be attached.
A load-carrying system as referred to herein comprises a load-carrying structure optionally having affixed to it one or more pieces of hook-and-loop material. The hook-and-loop material improves retention of accessory holders supported by the load carrying system and opposes sliding of the accessory holders along the load-carrying structure, while allowing the accessory holders to be removed or repositioned. The hook-and-loop material, also known as thistle cloth, includes two complementary parts, a hook part and a loop part, each part formed into a strip or patch of synthetic fabric. The hook part, referred to herein as hook material, and the loop part, referred to herein as loop material, readily adhere to each other to form a mechanical connection, yet the two complementary parts may be separated relatively easily by peeling them apart. A product having the trademarked name “Velcro” by Velcro Industries B.V. is an example of a hook-and-loop material.
A load-carrying system further comprises one or more accessory holders. An accessory holder compatible with the load-carrying system includes a piece of hook-and-loop material complementary to the piece of hook-and-loop material attached to the load-carrying structure. Examples of load-carrying structures for load-carrying systems known in the art are shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4. FIG. 1 shows an example of a duty belt known in the art. The duty belt 100 of FIG. 1 comprises a strip of hook material 102 on an inside surface of the duty belt 100. The hook material 102 is identified in FIG. 1 and other figures referenced herein by a pattern of “+” symbols on a contact surface for the complementary loop material. FIG. 2 shows another example of a duty belt known in the art, comprising a strip of loop material 106 on an inside surface of the duty belt 104. The loop material 106 is identified in FIG. 2 and other figures referenced herein by a stippling pattern on a contact surface for the complementary hook material.
Another example of a load-carrying structure known in the art is shown in FIG. 3. The load-carrying structure of FIG. 3 comprises a duty belt 100 as in FIG. 1. The load-carrying structure further comprises a liner belt 108 which provides additional support for equipment attached to the duty belt and may optionally include padding for the comfort of a person wearing the belt. The liner belt 108 and the duty belt 100 of FIG. 3 attach to each other as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4. A location and viewing direction for the cross-section of FIG. 4 is shown by a line marked A-A in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 4, a duty belt 100 having a piece of hook material 102 attached to an inner surface of the duty belt is removably attached to a liner belt 108 having a complementary piece of loop material 106 attached to an outer surface of the liner belt. In similar fashion, a liner belt having a piece of hook material on an outer surface may be combined with a duty belt having a piece of loop material on an inner surface, for example the duty belt of FIG. 2.
An accessory holder adapted for use with a load-carrying system known in the art, such as one of the duty belts of FIGS. 1-4, is shown in the prior-art illustrations of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 shows a front view of an accessory holder 110 having a cover flap secured with a snap. FIG. 6 shows a side view of the accessory holder 110 of FIG. 5. A belt loop 112 is attached to a rear surface of the accessory holder by stitching, fusing, adhesive, threaded fasteners, rivets, or similar strong attachment means. An end of the belt loop 112 is held closed by one or more pairs of threaded fasteners 116. Removing one member of each pair of threaded fasteners allows the belt loop to be opened and placed around a belt, strap, sling, or similar load-carrying structure. The threaded fasteners are reattached to close the belt loop after the accessory holder 110 is placed at a selected location on the load-carrying structure. Alternately, an end of a belt or strap may be inserted through the opening in the belt loop 112 without disconnecting the threaded fasteners.
A piece of one of the complementary parts 114 of hook-and-loop fastener material is attached to an inner surface of the belt loop 112, as shown in FIG. 6. For an accessory holder 110 intended for attachment to a load-carrying structure comprising hook material, as in the example of a duty belt shown in FIG. 1, the complementary part 114 of the hook-and-loop fastener material on the belt loop 112 is the loop material. For an accessory holder 110 intended for attachment to a load-carrying structure comprising loop material, as in the example of a duty belt shown in FIG. 2, the complementary part 114 of the hook-and-loop fastener on the belt loop 112 is the hook material.
A force of adhesion between a piece of hook material and a complementary piece of loop material is related in part to an amount of contact area between the two pieces. Furthermore, hook-and-loop materials are available with different amounts of adhesion strength per unit of area. A strength of attachment between a load-carrying structure and an accessory holder may therefore be selected for a size, weight, carrying location, and amount of removal force needed for a particular equipment item by selecting a size of a contact area and an adhesion strength per unit of area between complementary parts of the hook-and-loop material used in a load-carrying system.
Because pieces of hook-and-loop fastener material must be complementary to adhere to each other, an accessory holder having only loop material will not adhere to a load-carrying structure having only loop material. Similarly, an accessory holder having only hook material will not adhere to a load-carrying structure having only hook material. For example, a prior-art accessory holder for use with the prior-art duty belt example of FIG. 1 will not be properly retained by a prior-art duty belt like the one shown in FIG. 2, and a prior-art accessory holder for use with the prior-art duty belt of FIG. 2 will not be retained properly on the prior-art duty belt of FIG. 1. Similar incompatibilities occur with other load-carrying systems known in the art. In general, accessory holders having hook material for attaching to a load-carrying structure are incompatible with load-carrying structures having hook material for attaching accessory holders, and accessory holders having loop material for attaching to a load-carrying structure are incompatible with load-carrying structures having loop material for attaching accessory holders.
An accessory holder compatible with a load-carrying system from one supplier may not be available with hook-and-loop material compatible with a different load-carrying system from another supplier. Furthermore, incompatibility between accessory holders and load-carrying systems may cause problems in logistics, interchangeability of equipment, interchangeability of load-carrying system components, positioning of accessory holders on a load-carrying system, movement of an accessory holder away from a selected position on a load-carrying system, procurement, training, maintenance, and other problems. What is needed is a device that enables an accessory holder to be attached to a load-carrying structure comprising either hook material or loop material. What is further needed is a device that may be retrofitted to an accessory holder already in the possession of a person using a load-carrying system.